Crime writing's best kept secret

If a relaxing diversion is of the essence for a good holiday, a Gladys Mitchell novel is a must...a crime writer who, in her day, ranked with Christie and Sayers

The Great Gladys

There are many other good detective writers...there is Gladys Mitchell with her fascinating Mrs Bradley, ugly as a toad and armed with the latest up-to-date theories of psychology

Peppered with brilliant moments

Niven is a very funny writer and the pace and colourful characters recall the dizzying daftness of early Carl Hiaasen

A book that's impossible to put down

The most riotously funny writing on golf, sex and violence since the police report on a certain golfer's marital dispute

Fourth of July Creek cannot possibly be Smith Henderson's first book. Its scope is audacious, its range virtuosic, its gaze steady and true. A riveting story written in an seductive and relentlessly authentic rural American vernacular, this is the kind of novel I wish I'd written.

Engrossing … A piercing glance at the US’s social margins where the American dream and the horrors of government abandonment walk hand in hand.

At the heart of this ambitious debut novel set in rural early 1980s are vulnerable members of American society…Henderson has a skill for evoking the physical and psychological state of his characters at the same time as making general comments on his country in a probing “state-of-the-nation” novel…Powerful…The novel sensitively yet unflinchingly depicts deeply disturbing incidents of domestic violence. The tension between the individual and community ripples through a philosophical, thought-provoking novel, where Henderson contrasts civilisation and the wilderness and raises profound questions: what does it mean to be civilised? What is the best way to live and how should we best help each other?

Smith Henderson's prose is an utter joy to read. An intricate novel with an echo of Céline. A great accomplishment. An extraordinary debut.

A terrific debut novel, packed full of bracing scenes and sentences that stick in the mind long after the last page. It barely seems credible that this is Smith Henderson's first book.

Zings with an immediacy that makes you feel like you’re right there … Henderson, a former social worker and prison guard, hails from Montana, so it’s no surprise he can do it justice.

Listen out for echoes of Richards Russo and Ford as Henderson powers his way to an abruptly devastating ending.

Striking early scenes show why Henderson has his illustrious admirers.

A worthy contender for the title of a great American novel. With its magisterial scope and emotionally rich storytelling, this literary tour-de-force captivated and, at few points, grounded me to dust with its sheer brilliance. It is one of the books that will always keep bouncing around my head and one around which many readers will redefine their life. I can't recommend it enough.

A triumphant thriller worthy of Bond’s creator Ian Fleming.

I found myself wondering if Boyd had outdone Fleming.

[Boyd is] an ideal writer of James Bond novels, and this one, his first, is very good

Perfectly judged homage

A brand new James Bond adventure combining all the glamour and excitement of Fleming’s original novels with the masterful storytelling of William Boyd

A very good piece of literary ventriloquism, with a great baddie

Fleming’s James Bond lives again in this perfectly judged homage